Today we are releasing a new update to Horizon with numerous changes, improvements and additions. Previously saved games remain compatible with the new update but to fully experience the changes requires starting a new game. We hope you enjoy the new changes!

Horizon major update/add-on released – Monday April 14, 2014v 1.0.0.88

New Features, improvements and changes

AI and gameplay* AI improvements made to fleet management allowing them to rally to the defence of colonies when a threat is detected* AI improvements with expansion (digging, colonization and surveying) of planets in a more efficient manner* AI diplomacy improvements - will now consider cancelling treaties, making demands or declaring war when there are controversies with another race* Racial tolerance system improved and effects adjusted, shifts for some actions will now also occur over -time instead of immediately, slowing down relation changes

* Economy balance changes - income generated has been reduced but bonuses from buildings have been made more linear and straightforward, ship maintenance costs have been reduced to align with these changes* Reduced the research points required for tech refinements* Gold Deposits and Gem Deposits will now require the colony to be a mining colony (industry based colony) as per the description to receive the added bonuses

* On First Contact not all colony locations will be shared between races and still require further exploration of the map to discover them. This also affects intelligence sharing treaty, only known colony and territory information is shared

* Travel between Stargates now takes 1 turn in hyperspace instead of 2. The time to reach the Stargate if any is in addition to this* Travelling through anomalies and nebulae will now apply harsher penalties

* Diplomacy demand ‘Surrender a system’ is now available with friendly relations* Diplomacy threat ‘Stop expansion’ is no longer available between allies

* Reduced the amount of population killed on colonies during attacks to destroy its defences, this is to prevent the accidental destruction of colonies. Once the defenses are down, continuing to bombard will eventually destroy the colony* Ships with troop pods will now refill soldiers to full in one turn during refits as long as there are enough soldiers at the colony

Ships and technology* You can now fully retrofit existing ships and starbases by applying a new design from the taskforce orders panel. Shipyards or a Starbase (slower) is required to refit ships.

* Scanners range now increases based on the technology level, allowing the detection of ships farther out on the galaxy map* Deep space scanner technology added - this tech is available for ship design and by default is outfitted on starbases* Logistics technology added - this tech will affect a fleet’s supply range from their nearest colony. Ships are no longer able to travel beyond supply range. Task force ships can still be fitted with Supply Bays to extend their normal range* Auxiliary pods technology added, this tech is available for ship design and allows for additional space for components at an increased ship build cost* Survey Instruments technology added, this tech is available for ship design and allows faster surveying of planetary systems* Armor resistance and vulnerabilities have been added

* Engines technologies have been made more distinct with updated descriptions, we’ve also added a maneuverability factor that affects a ship’s initiative and rotation costs, power generators coupled with the right engines now provide a set bonus

UI and other options* Planetary reports, resources, quest item locations, population and ground troops icons with tooltips have been added on the planet panel on the galaxy map for easier viewing* Diplomacy tooltips have been added explaining treaties and pacts* Colony view - Orbitals tooltips updated to provide more details

* Galaxy map task force vectors are now drawn from the task force instead of the center, also other races task forces vectors will now display if hovered on or if they are hostile and coming to your system as long as in detection range* ETA is now displayed on task force movement vectors* Movement range has been reduced when travelling vertically to match the correct map perspective* Starbases are now displayed in the taskforce panel on the galaxy map* Galaxy map drawing has been significantly optimized to improve frame rates by 5 to 10x with very high number of stars and many ships on the map

* Turn messages regarding discoveries now link to the sector on the galaxy map, rather than going to the planet view, so an order dig be selected if desired* Random events and some mission related Turn messages (e.g.: Don Barsillio) are now set as low priority

* Orbital maintenance cost, ship supply range are now shown during Ship Design* If a ship carries Fighters, it will now display below weapons in tactical combat

* Added an auto-end turn option – multiple turns are processed until a message or event occurs* Auto 'idle' ship selection preference option now only includes Idle ships without ordersGraphics / Languages / Credits* Added race specific government buildings animations* French language support now available, Polish and others updated* Credits with early supporters who registered their names are now available to view in-game

Other Fixes* Fixed an issue where encroaching on another race’s territory would cause the wrong race to be blamed* Fixed a display issue with Random Events where the reported amount of bonuses was different than the actual bonuses provided * Fixed a display issue with a few instances where Journal entries details did not reflect the new mission info* Story missions rewards – ‘Kuntari officers’ and ‘How to fight legends’ should now provide relevant bonuses* In classic mode the ‘Lezgoon race’ will no longer start in a weakened state* Warrior abilities – Soldier growth rate, barracks size, +1 crew level will now apply correctly* Task force ships can no longer be split up when entering/exiting Stargates* Fixed right-click to remove ships from a task force after scrolling* Begging for mercy through Diplomacy (if accepted) now enforces an armistice pact on both parties* Low Power will now display when a weapon can’t fire due to lack of available power* Diplomacy requests to attack/defend colonies should now work better* Fixed an issue where the shield piercing weapon ability would work even before unlocking it at level 5

The survey time is currently set to 6 rounds in tactical (~1/3 of a turn) per planet with one ship surveying + travel time from planet to planet. If you are surveying a large system that can add up to several turns. The survey instruments cut this time in half. It is a nice advantage.

Initial idea was to make it a requirement for surveying but assumed all space ships would have some basic surveying capabilities, the factor can certainly be further tweaked easily enough.

I honestly can't play it now, i always used Bio-Energy Armour, Hydrogen Generator and Antimatter Torpedoes, now i can't even choose to do that, let alone terraform from the get go, since none of it is available for custom races, even with Advanced Race option ticked.

Very impressed with the changes. Havent had time for a full game as of yet but its a huge improvement.

Its awesome to see fleet supply as a limit to your ability to move around the galaxy and really improves diplo, since now you don't know where all the other races planets are in the beginning and you have to do exploration to find them not just send a scout to the Kor so I can become good friends.

Also diplo has had some major improvements.

Game has come so far along since it was in alpha! Its like watching a small child grow up very very quickly.

My curent "gobble up the 10-15 choice planets all around without penalty"

, wait for them to cook to profitability

, ignore my angry neighbors

, crush the one or two that declare war (who seem to like attacking with small batches of ships in most cases anyway)

...can only be stopped by:

a. some sort of nerf on "gobble up planets rush". This doesn't *have* to follow the Civ model of "unhappy/unproductive/expensive". Could be distant-planet-expatriotism: "I'm so far away I don't feel part of the empire any more. I'll go indie...or just fade away into the countryside and become part of the native population." or distant-planet-indie-economy penalty: "wow, I'd rather spend money buying stuff and sharing tech with the local AI empire" so we actually end up creating a money pit that helps our rivals.

b. In "early fleet phase", AI needs to collect their ships into 10-ship fleets minimum. Or human player crushes simply by bringing more ships to the average fight than the AI. Concentrate and fight together.